Dravid is one of the those players in the world who give great importance to how they play, rather than how effective they are. This in other words mean the technique. For years, people all over the world believed that batting is all about technique, and it would be an understatement to say that Dravid falls in this category.
This is great asset for a batsman, more so when one is playing in pace/seam friendly pitches. But, to be technically solid is one thing and to be possessive of technique is another. Dravid for all these years was over possessive about his technique. It is almost, if he played a bad shot, he waits for the same delivery again and until he plays the shot perfectly, he does not come out of his shell. This is a bad quality in a batsman. He almost went the Manjrekar way, but a great innings of 180 changed it all.
I noticed that after that innings, he started to bat more positively and more aggressively. I guess he lost some of that possessiveness. Since that test, barring one innings in a one dayer against Sri Lanka, he showed great aggression, and intent to win, not just bat. Take the example of the 2nd test against Sri Lanka, I definitely thought he deserved the Man of the Match. Not only did he come at the end of the day(Which Batsman hate), he was very aggressive, taking the match away from the Lankans. Now here comes my next part of analysis on Dravid, he is not a match winner!!
Do not agree with me?? For me, a match winner is essentially a player who finishes or atleast be there till the team is totally safe. I cannot remember any match till date, where he was till the end ensuring the win or even saftey. He till now only took the match away from the opposition for a brief period. Remember the match against S.A in S.A, in which even Sachin struggled to score freely. Dravid came in smashed people like Donald, and almost got there, but never. He got out in the nick of the time. Take the 2nd test, and look at how Sourav played. Sourav was in horrible form, but when he got in, he made a point to be there till the end. People like Sachin, Steve Waugh, Sanath and Saeed Anwar would never get out when a win is in sight. Dravid gets out. If I were asked the major difference between a great player and a very good player, I would put finishing as the major difference. Dravid is a very good batsman, but not a great batsman. The moment he gets into the habit of finishing matches, he with his talent and technique will definitely be regarded as one of the greatest players.